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Marilyn Monroe famously wore it to bed - with nothing else - but now Chanel No 5 is under threat from Brussels.

The perfume is one of several that may need to be reformulated under new European Commission regulations aimed at protecting consumers from allergies. Chanel No 5 and Dior's Miss Dior, two of the most popular scents in the world, contain mosses that could be banned under new rules. The perfume houses are now trying to synthesize the aromas, which give the scents their woody base notes.

Chanel No 5, which has been on the market for 93 years, is the world's bestselling perfume.

It is said that when Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, founder of the fashion house, sprayed the scent in a Paris restaurant in 1921, passing women stopped to ask her what it was and where it came from.

But under new rules the famous fragrance could be changed forever.

Chanel and Dior have been working on altered versions stripped of the molecules atranol and chloroatranol, regarded as potential allergens by the EU.

"Adapting is a challenge, but it is precisely the talent of our 'nose' to be able to preserve the qualities and olfactive identity of our perfumes, while also taking into account new regulatory constraints," a spokesman for Chanel said.

The new rules will also require products to be fully labelled and include allergy warnings in the same way as medication, which could push up the cost of perfume. In 2012, an advisory report recommended limiting the use of 12 ingredients regarded as the pillars of the luxury perfume industry.

They include citral, found in lemon and tangerine oils; coumarin, found in tropical tonka beans; and eugenol, found in rose oil.

However, just three - citral, atranol and chloroatranol - are now likely to be banned, with an investigation taking place into the remaining nine to see if small amounts could be tolerated.

"We understand that drastic reductions in the authorized concentrations of these ingredients would have created major disruptions to the industry," said David Hudson, spokesman for consumer policy at the European Commission.

However, the perfume industry has complained that even small changes could radically affect scents and sales.

"If we ban citral from perfumes, of which certain elements are allergens, we should ban orange juice. It is absurd," said Frederic Malle, who founded the French luxury perfume company Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. Malle said he has been forced to reformulate a quarter of his scents because of the forthcoming EU regulations, resulting in additional costs.

"It can take more than six months to reformulate a perfume, and a minimum of some 30 tests ... and this is precious time that cannot be spent on creating new perfumes. So to protect a small portion of the population, we are making the rest suffer," he said.

Scent-allergy Symptoms

Cold-like symptoms

Dizziness

Fatigue

Headaches

Insomnia

Nausea

Numbness

Shortness of breath

Skin irritation

Worsening asthma symptoms

Sources: Canadian Lung Association, Mount Saint Vincent University

By the Numbers: Fragrance Facts

4,000 - number of chemicals that can be used in scented products. 150 to 300 - number of ingredients a typical fragrance contains.

95 - percentage of the chemicals used in fragrances that are made from petroleum. 1 in 4 - Canadians have a respiratory disease and more than 600,000 have symptoms when exposed to chemicals in the air.

15 - percentage of Canadians estimated to have a breathing problem triggered by chemicals in scented products. 80 - percentage of chemical ingredients in scented products never tested for their toxicity in humans.

Sources: Canadian Lung Association, Mount Saint Vincent University

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